Find 10 Things Wrong …

It was a game page in Highlights for Children: Find 10 Things Wrong With This Picture. Maybe that’s what those fun-loving Charlotte Sun editors have in mind. Here’s three to get you started on today’s paper:

Front page: The headline writer tells readers “Community leaders see local economic recovery peaking through the clouds.”

Front page: A reprint from Fort Myers News-Press (implying that two copy desks read it? ) reports a stolen elf from a holiday lawn display. The mock drama of the mini-featurette is lost the moment the writer reports the scene was “grizzly.” That’s supposed to be grisly.

At the national roundup page: An event in Dale City, Prince William County (Virginia), is placed under a Washington, D.C., header. Even a sleepy copy editor should instantly recognize that D.C. doesn’t have counties.

The rest of the 10 Things Wrong are scattered throughout the paper in all the usual spots: cutlines, overlines, the home-grown editorial, and in-house ads. Happy hunting!

Desperately Seeking Cute Trumps Accuracy

Since the headline doesn’t refer to anyone in the story — no one expresses desperation in this light rewrite of a prepared city council agenda — and since the headline doesn’t fulfill the requirements of a grammatical English sentence, and since it misprepresents the story, readers can consider themselves officially irrelevant. It’s the copy desk’s need to be cute that counts. It’s the desk’s need to show she/he has seen a 23-year-old grade B movie that matters. That’s just plain desperate.

Half a Name Isn’t the Whole Story

There wan’t enough room in the Charlotte Sun‘s state-roundup page to give the city’s whole name, so half would have to do. The result: readers are briefly led to believe that an institution of higher learning in Pennsylvania has gone into the fowl-ordinance business.

Local hed style: York, Louis, Barbara, and Paul.

Back at the front page, a local writer
announces that “Today the U.S. Census released the first set of
three-year American Community Survey data …”

The problem is, the data came out yesterday. Sun readers are accustomed to getting their news “whenever.” The shock of reading — at 7:30 a.m., no less — what happened today was too much for Old Word Wolf.

Doing Too Much With Too Little

The DeSoto Sun’s front page designers couldn’t decide exactly what the story says (there’s actually a good reason for that — see next graf), so they opted to play it both ways:

Illegal immigration is down
Refugees keep on coming

We can hear it now: “They’ll figure it out once they read the story.”

Uhm, no. We can’t figure it out once we read the story. The opus opens with lots of stuff about illegal immigrants — the news hook is 17 Cubans came ashore last month, beaching on an island at the fringes of the newspaper’s circulation area. The problem is, Cubans aren’t illegal immigrants. And the headline about “refugees” seems to be taken from the table, lifted from a Web-aggregator’s data showing the top five countries that have been sending refugees — all perfectly legal arrivals — in the last decade.

To add to the confusion, the refer trailing the story announces “Lee County opts not to participate in 287 (g) program” Readers expecting to solve the mystery of what exactly a 287 (g) is turn eagerly to page 4.

No where in the inside story is a 287 (g) program defined or explained. The cops complain about it, calling it unflattering names. Administrators complain about it, saying it doesn’t work. Officials, some 20 inches into the story, call it a “seminal problem,” whatever that is. But no where, no where, no where can the reader learn what the heck a 287 (g) is.

Nice work, guys. Maybe if writers asked someone to actually read their stories before they landed on the front page, Sun readers wouldn’t be quite so busy wondering if their $200 subscriptions are worth renewing.

Reporter Uses 1994 Government Press Release as News

Two short bits before the larger story:
Bit Number One: Skimming through John Lawhorne’s front page feature this morning about the effect development has on bird watching (news flash: development is not good for birds), Old Word Wolf happened on his unattributed assertion, “The good news for birders is that, for the time being, Southwest Florida still can be considered one of the premier birding areas in the country, if not the world.”

A Google search of “premier birding areas” turns up Sierra Vista and Tuscon, Ariz., Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, the Rio Grande Valley; Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo, Wash., Cheraw Reservoir in Colorado, a dozen places in Montana, Lodi Lake, San Francisco Bay and Santa Cruz, Calif., several spots in Wisconsin, Acadia National Park, Maine, Merritt Island, Fla., Cape May, N.J., Lake Alice, N.Y. – you get the idea.

“Premier birding area” is an empty, overused phrase that a naive reporter has culled from his reading. He thought it sounded nice and decided to share.

And, before we get to that serious headline, there’s one more giggle:

Near the close, Lawhorne innocently reports, “Birding requires a minimum of affordable equipment to get started. All you need is a pair of binoculars and a field guide to the local bird fauna and you are ready to head for the outdoors.” Ahem. Lawhorne’s birder is ready for the “naturist camp” they’re trying to build in DeSoto County.

But there’s much more that is deeply troubling about this story. Lawhorne was recently caught using Wikipedia as an unattributed source (the practice is called plagiarism everywhere except the Charlotte Sun) for a rock band story, of all things. So OWW decided to check the data he used to report the size and scope of the bird watching industry: Lawhorne: “The FWS noted that Americans spend an estimated $18.1 billion a year to watch wildlife.”

A key-word search produced this archived news release from the U.S. Department of the Interior dated May 12, 1995: Bird Migration Thrills Millions, Boosts Economy, but Loss of Habitat Threatens Popular Species and a Rapidly Growing Industry. Along about the second page, this paragraph appears:

“In a study released by the Service, “The Economic Contribution of Bird and Waterfowl Recreation in the United States during 1991,” indicates that, of the estimated $18.1 billion Americans spend annually to watch wildlife, $5.2 billion is spent on bird watching, using the most conservative economic assumptions. That figure could run as high an $9 billion, according to the report’s author, Rob Southwick of Southwick Associates. Using conservative assumptions, the number of jobs supported by bird watching is 200,000, according to the study.”

Without telling, Lawhorne feeds readers a 13-year-old press release whose information is based on a study published four years prior to that. And, he misrepresents the information. Here’s how he does it.

Lawhorne: “About 200,000 jobs nationally are supported by birdwatching. The FWS noted that Americans spend an estimated $18.1 billion a year to watch wildlife.”

Any editor worth his paycheck would notice that “wildlife” is not restricted to birds. Lawhorne’s own source attributes less than a third of that amount (about $5.2 billion)to bird watching. But Lawhorne doesn’t tell readers this, and neither does he tell readers that the job data is 17 years old.

The government press release goes on to report, “All indications are the bird-watching and -feeding hobby is growing fast. The number of specialty stores selling wild birdseed, feeders, and equipment has exploded in recent years …”

And Lawhorne dutifully copies: “According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all indications are that the bird watching and feeding hobby is growing fast. The number of specialty stores selling wild birdseed, feeders and equipment has grown dramatically in recent years.”

Lawhorne, the copyist, is unable to supply what any wide-awake editor would ask for: What numbers constitute dramatic growth? He can’t because his 1995 press release about the 1991 data doesn’t say.

In addition, Lawhorne is unable to report what the 2008 economic downturn, which has shuttered thousands of small specialty shops, has done to his claim of dramatic growth in recent years – that is, almost 20 years ago. For example, Wild Bird Center Inc., a retail-store franchise operation that targets the bird watching and feeding hobbyist, has declined from “more than 100” retail outlets five years ago to about 80 today, according to OWW’s historical review of the firm’s press releases.

Why is OWW picking on John Lawhorne? For one thing, she likes her news reporters to be accurate, fair, and honest. Today’s big-play feature and its author are none of these. Lawhorne is thumbing his nose at his readers, his editors, his publisher, and the profession of journalism.

Navigating Florida — The Charlotte Sun Way

One assumes Charlotte Sun‘s newsroom is equipped with an atlas and it has a page or two devoted to Florida. That good book may even be somewhere near the copy desk, where those fact-driven, accuracy fiends called copy editors regularly thumb the pages to check on stuff, like where Pensacola is.

Oh? You say that page was ripped out years ago, and now the best you can do is guess where Pensacola is? Well, then, no free beer for us, because the Charlotte Sun map man points us 250 miles east of where that fair city was last reckoned.

The Bear Stops Here

LETTER SUBMISSION POLICY: … Letters will be edited for length as well as grammar and spelling.

Editor:
The Arcadia Golf Course is really in bad shape. Most of the greens have bear stops, the fairways need fertilizing, there are brown and bare spots, fire ant hills are everywhere, fairway and rough, needs treated for fire ants.

And against all recommendations ….
by the Associated Press Stylebook, Merriam Webster’s 11th, and New World: “Slightly cooler temperatures have been forecasted …”

Dear Abby: I Haz Not Copee Editur Bluz

Deer Abby: I know you get alots
of letters from peeple complaining
about there bosses. I’d like to offer some thin a bit different, and maybe briten, yur day. I work as a copy eidter at Charlotte Sun Newspaper and my bosses are the nicest peeple around. They idid not mind that i hated speling in schol. Now I get to rite hedlimes. Hope you like the on I rote for your colum this morning. Betz Wishz: Copee Eitur and Yur Fan.

P.S. I have a intern to tuttor. Today she writez “violent crimes against individuals is down in the first six months of this year compared to last year states a recently released report by Florida Department of Law Enforcement.” Iznt she good!

P.P.S. Im voting for the demicrat for sherrif. Because DeSoto Assistant Editer Hoffman sez to and sheez a good writer to:

Algar has not had direct law
enforcement experience, although she has
training in crime scene investigation
and has worked as an private investigat-
or. Compare that with Wise, who
has 30 years as a law enforcement
officer (including 12 years as the
chief deputy in DeSoto County).
She has some hefty competition.
So why does Algar think she’s
qualified?

Today’s non sequitur:

Help your
Newspaper
get better

by Chris Porter
Editor

In an effort to improve your
paper, the Sun is kicking off a
survey.

Uh, Chris, “kicking off a survey” won’t help “my” newspaper get better. Surveys don’t improve papers. But editing and news judgment might. Today’s raft of readers’ letters to the editor informing us that the Democratic presidential candidate is a Muslim and hangs with terrorists violates of the ethical and factual standards at every legitimate newspaper in the land. Shame on you.

More about that survey:

When the survey is over, we’ll
take all of the participants and
have a drawing for some $50
Publix gift cards

.

Hmm. How to fit all those participants in the hat … ?

And One More Observation: Not only does the pen-wielding editor/writer all but endorse Candidate Wise in the news report, she — the editor — runs a prison-quality mug shot for one and the flag-in-the-background studio pose for her favorite.

Left: Washington, with beard. Right: Lincoln, with white-powdered hair

These iconic photos have been reproduced in thousands of American texbooks and are routinely used in classrooms across the land starting in about the seventh grade. During the last 50 years, the photos have appeared regularly in magazines and newspapers and today are posted on countless Web sites.

It took the Charlotte Sun to get them wrong. OK, so editors missed that day at school. But it didn’t occur to anyone on the layout desk, on the copy editing desk or at page-proof time that the woman cradling a baby and flanked by children might be the mother.

Let’s set the record straight and not further embarrass our fine Florida social studies teachers: Left: “Migrant Mother” by Dorthea Lange. Right: “Allie Mae Burroughs” by Walker Evans.

And while we’re looking at the pretty pictures ….

“Growing in the sand: One of the main characters in the novel “Jurassic Park” is fond of saying “life will find a way” in explaining how wrong things can happen when scientists start tinkering with the DNA of dinosaurs. These beach grasses prove that statement correct. They have found a way to take root and grow even in the midst of miles of sandy beach.”

Let’s ignore that the photographer isn’t telling readers where, when or why he took the photo and forgive that the photo editor and the layout editor are not about to ask him.

Instead, let’s try to figure out why the editor thinks a pop-culture reference to “how wrong things can happen” when “scientists start tinkering with the DNA of dinosaurs” explains Florida native sea oats growing in their natural habitat.

Meanwhile, in local news …

“…I’m cluing you in about two new local locations …” — columnist Joe Gallimore.

“Local man protests code enforcement” — headline writer.

“… local Arcadia resident …” — editor’s note about children’s story writer.

And one more thing: We’re getting used to the Sun‘s strange habit of using British spelling (humour, colour, etc.) in stories about Canada. But today’s state-page photo has nothing to do with Canada. “Endeavour” isn’t listed in the desk’s dictionary as an acceptable second spelling. The word’s not used in the text of the cutline. But there it is. Eh?

Ruppel: "I Am Meticulous About Giving Sources"

Frequent Venice Gondolier columnist Mary Kay Ruppel wraps up her Friday column with assurances to readers that she’s meticulous about naming sources. It’s her closing note in a tirade constructed largely around at least five unnamed sources. Thanks for the reassurance, Mary Kay!

“….Fannie Mae Chief Franklin Raines is reported to have accumulated a personal wealth of $100 million…”

“…Jamie Gorlick, another Clinton buddy is also said to be worth in excess of $100 million …”

“…Barack Obama is said to be the third-largest recipient of Fannie Mae’s political contributions reported at more than $100,000 …”

“… Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Barney Frank have also allegedly benefited from this financial crisis …”

” … P.S. I am meticulous about giving sources when I quote other columnists, newspapers, etc.”